Club Fantasy
by sheneya
Summary: Zack Fair is the nicest guy you could ever meet... he is also the owner and manager of the most elite strip and escort club in Midgar, what happens when he sees Cloud in the Seedy club Seventh Heaven, AU, Yaoi, Het. Sephiroth/Cloud, Zack/Aerith, others.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy in any of it's various forms, this is for fun only.

Club Fantasy

Cloud sighed and ran his hands over his eyes as he got up for the nights work.

Grumbling for a second, he pulled himself out of bed to start dinner for Tifa and the others.

The small apartment was dingy, and barely fit the four inhabitants in it, even with how quiet they all were. Switching the coffee pot on to get his first caffeine fix of the day, he remembered how he and Tifa had first got here.

Flashback

Nibelhiem had been a small town, as such you learnt to gather and hunt early in life.

It was there first unaccompanied gathering mission... well it wasn't really a mission, but both he and Tifa thought it was a cool idea to pretend it was a full SOLDIER mission both he and the slightly older girl had been sent on.

It was the first time they had been allowed out into the woods on their own, gathering berries and nuts to fill out the rather meagre crop harvest they'd had this year.

It would be a day of going back and forth between the village and the forest, and they weren't allowed past trees more than twenty deep.

They where eight.

It was tradition that on the final trip back, the family of the hunters and gatherers would wait just inside the village, ready with hot drinks and warm hugs to congratulate the returnees...and occasionally to count the missing and send out search parties.

As it was Cloud and Tifa where running late, it had been their last gather before heading home but they had run into a pack of Nibel Wolves and had climbed a tree downwind in the hopes they wouldn't be found.

They had been lucky, but the sun was getting low, there would be barely any light left when they got home.

Desperate to get home, they strapped their gathering packs on top of the emergency tent and bedding and ran for home, hoping to get there before a search party was sent out.

In the fading light, he hadn't seen it, the outline of his and Tifa's parents and the houses behind them was all he could see.

Until he slammed into it..

It felt like smooth rocks, almost like the materia his dad had found one time and had let him hold.

Cloud blinked at the lack of movement behind the clear crystal, his mother's arm was raised up to point at the old clock tower, Tifa's father's hand was halfway through his hair, but never moving.

Banging his hands against the unyielding surface he started yelling for his mother, after a second, Tifa joined him, both trying to get an answer from the eerily still village.

Cloud looked up as Tifa shook his shoulder, their cries having not been heard.

"Maybe we can go around, get in another way."

Cloud nodded as Tifa began pulling him around the clear stone, his hope renewed...only to have it crushed as they finished the full circuit, even the haunted old mansion had been encased.

"Maybe it's not for too long."

"I don't know teef."

One thing you learned fast in Nibelhiem was how quickly things could change, hunters died on hunting trips, Gatherers could get killed just quickly, and medical help was at it's most basic so a lot of people died young.

But this was beyond the comprehension of both children.

Unable to anything but wait and see if it changed, the children began to set up camp just outside the frozen village, putting up the tent and rolling out the sleeping bags.

This was how the Red Man had found them.

End Flashback

Cloud looked up as The Red Man, childish recognition that had changed into a nickname Vincent Valentine just couldn't shake, walked into the room drawn by the smell of roasting meat and veges.

A rare treat that they could only ever afford when both Tifa and Cloud where employed.

"Coffee's nearly done too Red Man."

Vincent looked down at the grey slacks and black t-shirt he was wearing over his golden arm and feet, one of the many reasons he couldn't get a job like the other two.

The ex-turk closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the coffee machine and Clouds breathing.

Cloud didn't even blink as Chaos, another reason, open Vincent's eyes and went for the coffee machine, pouring a cup for both himself and the smaller man.

Cloud spooned sugar into his coffee, before getting the milk and adding that as well.

Chaos had his black.

Chaos was an Enigma, he was always talking about his powers before he'd been shoved inside Vincent, but he never made any real effort to get away either.

He was also a coffee addict.

Cloud smiled as the demon sniffed at his coffee, long deep inhalations, before licking his tongue out to taste the surface.

Pleased, as he always was by Cloud's coffee, he took a mouthful.

"Not Bad Fledge."

That was the other enigma of Chaos, he seemed to hate humanity most days, but to him, Cloud and the others where family.

A twisted dysfunctional family, but still family.

The almost fond look on Chaos's face brought back memories of the first time Cloud had met Vincent, and later his inhabitants.

Flashback

Cloud stirred at the rustling sound outside the tent, it was faint, like a small animal, but you didn't live in Nibelhiem without learning not to trust everything you hear.

The Rustling increased, sounding like a larger animal now and Cloud was ready to grab the small cutting knife they had used to gather berries from the tougher bushes, until a voice came softly to his ears.

"I won't hurt you little ones."

Surprised, Cloud stuck his head out, his eyes falling on a strangely shaped metal boot, they followed it up to black clad legs, though most of the pants where hidden by a large Red Cloak onto the face of a seemingly young, dark-haired man.

Cloud ducked his head back inside the tent.

"Tifa, there's a Red Man Outside our tent."

Tifa Mumbled a bit, before grabbing her own, small knife and pressing the one Cloud had been going for before the voice had spoken.

"Just incase."

Cloud nodded.

While they where talking inside, the man had sat down, probably to make himself less threatening.

"Are you two well."

Cloud fidgeted trying not to hide behind the older girl as Tifa took the lead.

"Yes Sir."

"Do you have any injuries?"

The man sounded strangely detached, as though he was reciting as much as asking them.

"No Sir."

"That's good."

Cloud started as the man got up to walk away.

"Wait, do you know what happened to our home."

"No." The next bit was muttered under the mans breath, but Cloud heard it clearly.

"But it had Chaos so scared he took over and ran for our lives."

Cloud decided not to ask about this Chaos person, but he did ask something else.

"But when will we be able to get home?"

The Red Man stopped at that, his shoulders tensed, before he turned around.

Both children's eyes were fast filling with tears.

Unable to ignore it, the man came back and sat down.

"I don't think you will be able to go home, Chaos said it's not going to go away anytime soon, and I doubt anyone inside survived."

Vincent pressed his hand to his eyes as the children started crying in earnest, knowing he'd been too blunt, though it was too late to take it back now.

Awkwardly he patted the two children's shoulders, trying to comfort them as best he could.

"There, there, I'm sure they're in a better place and wouldn't want you to be upset."

Unable to predict the sudden Rush of two children latching onto their only source of comfort, Vincent flailed as they attached to his sides, tears soaking into his cloak, before tumbling down in a heap.

Both children Tifa and Cloud seemed innately aware that he wasn't a people person, because they let go rather quickly once they had stopped crying.

Even with the massive loss, the children adapted quickly, pulling out their gathering packs they pooled the food they had collected together, with rationing, it would last them a week, maybe a week and a half, the nearest town was three weeks away for a walking adult, and all the carts had been inside the village.

"We won't make it Teef."

Both Cloud and Tifa had accompanied their parents on market runs, they knew not many edibles where along the road, and they weren't sure enough to go off it.

"I know Cloud, we have our knives, but it won't much help with hunting, even if we had learnt how to do it."

Vincent sat and listened as the two parried ideas back and forth, all childish, but some had a longshot at working, he got more and more worried, he wasn't the most sociable person, but he wasn't evil.

"I'll take you."

Both children looked at him in surprise.

"I'll take you to the nearest town, I don't eat much and I can carry more food, I can hunt as well."

Vincent almost sighed as two sets of eyes, one blue, one brown shone up at him.

"Thank you Red Man."

"You're welcome, and it's Vincent, not Red Man."

Both their heads nodded so fast it made the ex-turk dizzy.

"Yes Red Ma...Vincent."

Vincent just rolled his eyes, before tying part of his cloak in a way that made a large pouch and heading into the forest with them, knowing he had no idea which foods were edible, he let them pick what to have.

He never did leave them when they got to the town."

End Flashback

The sound of Tifa unlocking the door snapped him out of the memory, dropping her keys and coat on the small couch near the door, she took an appreciative whiff of the cooking food, before going onto the small balcony to bring the last member of their home into the kitchen for dinner.

The Girl sat, as she always did, between Tifa and Chaos, Cloud wasn't upset by the apparent shun, she did trust him in her own way, but her faith in most of humanity, especially men was severely shaken, burn scars ran up her arms and across her back, even with the limited amount of heal materia he had stolen when they first moved into Midgar the injuries had been too horrific.

Vincent was barely human, as nice as he was, and Tifa was a woman.

Cloud moved to the stove, pulling out plates and cutlery as he went, placing them on the table, he served up the food equally onto the four plates, before resting the cutlery on the side, putting them on a wood tray he brought them over to the table.

"Dinner's ready."

Pushing the first plate to Vincent, Chaos having finished his coffee, he placed the second and third one as they passed along the table, before pulling the last plate towards himself.

Both Vincent and Tifa said there thanks and dug into the meal, just after an almost too quiet to hear voice piped up.

"Thank you Cloud."

Cloud smiled, she didn't always speak, but it was nice to hear her voice occasionally.

"You're Welcome Aerith."


	2. Chapter 2

Previously on Club Fantasy.

Pushing the first plate to Vincent, Chaos having finished his coffee, he placed the second and third one as they passed along the table, before pulling the last plate towards himself.

Both Vincent and Tifa said their thanks and dug into the meal, just after an almost too small voice piped up.

"Thank you Cloud."

Cloud smiled, she didn't always speak, but it was nice to hear her voice occasionally.

"You're Welcome Aerith."

Continuing.

Aerith had come into their little group last.

When Cloud and Tifa had first met her, she was quite a bubbly personality, she never seemed to be upset, even if she sold no flowers that day.

She seemed to be happy just having the colourful blooms in her basket.

Flashback.

Both Cloud and Tifa had taken to buying a few flowers to brighten up wherever they where living at the time, when they had the extra money.

Even if they where just squatting in an abandoned building.

They were used to the few extra people that hung around as well.

A loud redhead with a smoke hanging of his lips, Reno, they found out later.

Reno, had a tendency to "Not Notice" when some of his items went missing, low-grade cure materia's, stuff like that.

Cloud had first thought he was just silly, but he noticed quite quickly that anyone from a crime gang usually got the business end of Reno's shock stick, but the homeless children and some others were ignored as they pilfered the redhead's pockets.

A quiet Black man with sunglasses, he barely talked, but he smiled at them as they passed.

And Tseng.

Tseng was a quiet, but severe seeming man, he rarely smiled and would glare if any crime groups got too close to the girl.

But the gangs had watched, they had noticed the few times a TURK, Vincent had told Cloud all about them, wasn't there.

It had been early morning, and Cloud was just heading back home from his latest job, a few extra gil in his pocket, so he'd walked to the old church.

The first thing he saw, were flames spilling out the windows, running towards it, he saw as Tseng, the watcher for the day arrived, staring in barely disguised horror, before calling the fire department.

Aerith's voice was barely heard over the roar of the flames, but Cloud had heard it, and without thinking, he ran into the building.

He had found her under the protective embrace of her adoptive mother, they old woman was almost charred through, and Aerith had bands of burns across her arms back and chest.

Knowing he had to get her out quickly, he ignored her pitiful cries as he lifted her up with all his strength, feeling her fragile skin tear as he did so.

He felt the flames on his back as he ran from the building, barely getting out as it collapsed behind him.

Barely noticing as Tseng grabbed him, Aerith still in his arms, and pulled him away from the fire, yanking him through Dark ally's and pulling him along unlit back streets.

"Cloud, listen to me."

He blinked up at the stern man who somehow knew his name.

"Aerith can't go to a hospital."

Cloud just looked at him, confused.

"I know, but if she goes, she won't be safe, she'll disappear."

Cloud stared some more, before nodding his head, Vincent had kept an eye on the rumours of missing people, usually homeless, people who wouldn't be missed.

That had been why Vincent had insisted on renting a place once they had enough money, most people wouldn't think a person paying rent was hiding anything, and even if you lived by yourself, the landlord would always notice if you went missing.

"I have some basic cures at home."

End Flashback.

The cures had healed her, but the scars were too much for such low level materia's.

Cloud shifted as a small envelope was pushed under the door, it had arrived, as always, about the thirty minutes before he had to leave for Seventh Heaven.

Finishing the last of his meal, he went to get it and take a look, before bringing it over to Aerith.

"Looks like sunflowers this time."

Aerith smiled as he placed it in front of her, no doubt already planning out where on the balcony she could put it, before going back to her meal.

Cloud then made his way to his room to grab some clothes, before heading to the shower.

He finished in his usual eight minutes, before getting dressed, and heading out the door.

On the street he gave his usual nod towards the ally Tseng had situated himself, before getting on Fenrir, the bike he and Tifa had gotten for cheap to work on, both needing a ride to and from work.

Shifting the gears he took off, knowing he'd be at work just in time to get ready for his shift.

Today would be the same as any other day.

He was so wrong.


	3. Chapter 3

Cloud groaned as he got off Fenrir outside Seventh Heaven's back door, stretching out he, gave a soft whimper of relief as his back popped back into place before he went inside.

He almost sighed in relief when he saw Barret Wallace behind the bar, he and Cid Highwind were some of the few bartenders that really looked out for the dancers.

Barret used to own Seventh Heaven, he was a good boss, the older staff said, but he ended up selling the business after his wife had vanished, leaving him to raise Marlene, his daughter, alone.

He had taken a part-time job to maintain an income, and keep an eye on the dancers.

The new owner was less than stellar, he rarely came in to check up on the staff, and he never did background checks.

This was proved when a new girl was yanked off the stage a kicked to death by her ex for being a "Tramp", The bartender never used the designated signals for potential danger, and he took ten minutes to call the police.

Designated signals were signs between the dancers and bartenders, for example, an order pen put in an upright position, with the lid off, meant a drunk that was showing signs of aggression, a foot turned upwards, instead of pointed, when a leg was wrapped around the pole, meant that one of the patrons was a little too intent on one particular dancer, in a dangerous way.

A green post-it pad on the counter, like the one there now, gave a sign that almost all the dancers wanted to see.

Recruiter.

Ever since the new boss had bought the club, the dancers had been having trouble, drunks that used to be removed before they got violent with the dancers, now had almost free reign, angry ex's could come and go as they please leaving some of the boys and most of the girls scared of retaliation.

Barret and Cid did their best, as did a few others, but that was only a few, most of the rest just ignored the violence until it became unignorable.

Cloud ignored the green pad, most recruiters wanted to move him closer to where their place of business was, but they usually refused to move his surrogate family.

And since Cloud refused to move without them...well, you get the picture.

Waving to Barret, he moved to the dressing room to put on his newest outfit, groaning when he saw it.

"A School-GIRL uniform Yuffie?"

Yuffie was not a dancer, but she took great delight in creating the costumes for the club.

He jumped as Yuffie practically bounced into his arms, a huge grin on her face as she squealed at him.

"But you'll look so cute in it."

Cloud sometimes wondered if Yuffie had medication she wasn't taking.

He might love her almost like a sister, but surely a normal person wasn't that bleeding happy all the time.

Cloud sighed and went to get his costume on, at least it wasn't that massive feathered monstrosity she'd tried to make him wear when he first applied for the job.

Of course she'd made it so there was no mistake he was male, the skirt only covered half his backside, and the underwear, while pink, where both plain and too tight to hide anything, the shirt had simple press fastenings, which would pop open as he pulled on the edges.

It was a good design, but why did she always have to dress him up like a girl?

Squirming a little in the getup, he made his way on stage for his first set, each set was half an hour and rotated between 10 acts until five am, it was hard work, but it paid for food and rent.

Twining himself around the pole, he kept an eye out for potential danger, mostly ignoring the obvious recruiter in the corner.

The recruiter was wearing a SOLDIER mask, which obviously made him an outsider, no self respecting SOLDIER, retired or otherwise came down here unless they where looking for something.

Time seemed to pass really slowly for his set, and he was glad when his first break finally came, heading over to the bar, he grabbed the drink Barrett had made for him.

Orange juice with a splash of water from a vodka bottle, the tips were always bigger when the patrons thought you were drinking.

He sighed as he saw the recruiter make his way over to where he was standing, they always seemed to want him until they found out about his family.

Not wanting to draw it out, he turned to the masked man and said.

"Look, not to be rude, but from the looks of it you're from above the plate, so you'll want me to move, I have three family members I'm not going to leave behind so you might as well leave it."

The man stared at him for a second.

"We'll see."

With that cryptic statement, he returned to his seat.

Through the night it became clear this man was from a high-class business, he only chose two other acts to approach the entire evening, Squall, whom Yuffie had put into full Goth getup, and the triplets.

The triplets were a unique act, with Loz barely moving at all while Kadja and Yazoo turned him into their own personal dance pole, ignoring the stage poles entirely.

A quick look also told Cloud that Yuffie had been asked about as well.

The thought that she'd be able to get closer to her dream of designing clothes for films made Cloud smile for her.

Finally the night was over and Cloud could go home, he'd be back just in time for Tifa's waffles and Chaos's bleary-eyed glare over the his first coffee of the day.

He didn't notice the speculating look the masked recruiter gave him as he waved to Barrett and Cid, the two men having a chat before the shift change, Barrett would be home in time to get Marlene up and to school, before crashing until it was time to pick her up.

Cid would start serving the first morning customers, as few as they were, while waiting for the day staff to come in, Tifa being one of them.

Seventh Heaven was a twenty-four hour bar after all.

Popping his head into Yuffie's room, he checked to see if she was getting home alright, she waved him off, saying she'd caught a ride with the triplets.

Duty done he got on his bike and headed home, barely paying attention to the masked man who was dialling up his phone.

Kunsel watched as the small blonde drove into the distance, waiting for the person on the other end to pick up.

"...Ello."

"Morning Zack."

There was muttered cursing on the other end, before the sound of a coffee pot switching on passed through the line, Zack was hyper after his coffee, before he was the walking dead.

"Go ahead Kunsel."

"I found a few good ones, but one may take a lot more convincing, he has a family he doesn't want to leave behind, and I doubt he's going to change his mind."

"Right, when's he on again?"

Kunsel walked back into the club, catching Barrett as he was walking out the door, he quickly asked him about the blonde.

Getting his answer he went back to the phone.

"Bartender say's he's in every night except Sunday."

"Right, today's Tuesday, yes."

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll check him out tonight, if he's as good as you seem to think, I'll make arraignments for moving his entire family."

"Yes Sir."

"Kunsel, we're not in SOLDIER anymore."

"Yes Zack."

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds.

"DAMMIT KUNSEL, DON'T TEASE ME BEFORE MY MORNING COFFEE."

Kunsel smirked.

"I wouldn't dream of it Zack."

TBC

Reviews are nice, not necessary, but nice.


	4. Chapter 4

It was practically the same routine when cloud woke up Wednesday afternoon, except this time it was honey sesame chicken stir-fry with rice and vegies, instead of roast beef and sides for dinner and Tseng had dropped daffodils instead of sunflowers before going into his alley.

Saying good-bye to the others, he got on Fenrir and made his way to work, the bartender for the night was Roxas.

Roxas was pretty enough to be one of the dancers, but he preferred to work behind the bar, like Cid and Barrett he was protective of the dancers, unlike Cid and Barrett he was only taken seriously by the bars regulars, though troublesome newcomers quickly learnt that for a small fry, he packed one hell of a punch.

Cloud was surprised to see the green pad out again, usually it was a few months between recruiters, now they'd had two in tow days.

Once again, the recruiter stood out, he was clearly another ex-SOLDIER, though he was pretty enough to be a dancer himself.

The man had thick black hair that spiked up almost as much as Cloud's did, though it was longer, as well as bright violet eyes that seemed to shine with happiness even though the smile was small.

The costume Yuffie came up with for the night was a black cat set, and he had been partnered with Squall, who would be playing up the leash control of the sets.

Leash sets were hard to do, both parties had to know each others moves, the pulls and tugs had to be convincing, but without proper use, the holder could end up straining, or even breaking the tethered persons neck.

Squall and Cloud had been doing the set with different costumes once every three months on stage for the past two years, they knew each others moves off by heart.

Unlike the first recruiter, this one watched his entire nights set before approaching him.

Handing him a business card, he told him he was an associate of last nights recruiter, and he knew about Cloud's family.

Cloud Gasped as the man stated the most likely starting payments for his dancing, it could cover their entire years rent and food, and still leave enough for other stuff.

It immediately made Cloud suspicious.

"I'll have to discuss it with the others first Sir."

The man looked at him.

"My name's Zack, not Sir, I hate Sir."

"Yes Sir."

Zack sighed.

"Never mind, we'll work on it if you decide to join us at Club Fantasy."

"Yes Sir."

They talked a little more, before Zack went on his way and Cloud found himself accosted by Loz.

It was not uncommon that on a stressful day, Loz would turn Cloud into his personal teddy bear, it wasn't a sexual act, but as much as the other triplets loved their brother, neither of them were comfortable with casual touch, preferring the professional distance of the stage.

Today it had been a newbie customer, he had started jeering at the oldest boy while they where on stage doing their Geisha act.

The man called him a stupid lump of flesh who couldn't be a real man if he tried.

Before Roxas could get to him, Kadaj had taken a flying leap at the man, pulling out Yazoo's hair pins as he layed into the man, readying them as a weapon.

Just as he was about to Jab the man in the eyes with the makeshift stabbing instrument, Yazoo yanked them out of his hands, before pulling the smallest boy against him and pulling his top off his shoulders.

Somehow, Yazoo managed to turn Kadaj's violent reaction into part of the act, while Roxas hauled the newbie to the door and pushed him onto the street.

Having felt Kadaj's rage, the man didn't put up much of a fuss.

It had been the last set for the triplets that night, so Cloud had mentally prepared himself for Teddy-bearing while he played the last act of his and Squall's leash play.

Cloud awkwardly patted Loz's back as the biggest triplet doused his shirt with tears, Kadaj was sitting to one side muttering about how he was going to find that man and show him 101 ways to die by spork.

Yazoo was simply trying to figure out if Kadaj's sudden removal of his hair pins had damaged his hair.

Finally, after a through inspection of said hair, Yazoo coaxed Loz into letting go of Cloud, and Kadaj had finally wound down from his rant, the three once again decided to take Yuffie home, leaving Cloud to think about what he was going to say to his surrogate family.

Getting on his bike, he made his way back home, knowing he'd get an interrogation from Vincent the minute the ex-TURK. saw his face.

Vincent always knew something was wrong, Cloud and the others had given up on trying to hide stuff from the man.

TBC.

AUTHORS NOTE, PLEASE READ:

Question:

I'm having trouble with a couple of my muses fighting, one wants to keep the Zack/Aerith Pairing, but another wants to change it to Aerith/Tseng.

Should I

A: leave it as is.

B: Change it to Aerith/Tseng.

Or C: Compromise and have an Aerith/Zack/Tseng Three way?


	5. Chapter 5

Cloud was right, the second Vincent saw him, he was told to sit down and wait while the older man got the others.

Unlike most days, Tifa was going to be working the same shift as him that night so it was one of the few days when all of them were home together for more than a few hours.

And as usual, after Cloud told then everything, all four of them had very different problems that needed addressing.

Vincent was worried about too much exposure, while more of it meant that more people would notice if one of them suddenly went missing, it also meant a higher likelihood that people who wanted them to go missing would find out about them faster.

Aerith was worried about her flowers, they where all in pots, but some wouldn't do well with being moved about, also all the flowers were used to being under the plate, everything Cloud had heard about Club Fantasy said it was an above plate establishment, and the Quiet young girl wasn't sure if the sudden increase of light would overdose and hurt them or not.

Tifa was just worried about running into some of the more unscrupulous rich folks, it was not uncommon for the police to ignore what was being done under the plate for a few extra gil, Don Corneo was proof of this, and some of the top plate folk had more money than him by far, the small family had no idea if any of the topsiders were as bad as the Don, and if they would be safe enough.

All Cloud really wanted was to keep their little family together and happy.

Somehow the discussion got out of his control, it went from talking amongst each other, to the other three making a list of things they would need before they even allowed Cloud to consider joining.

Cloud yawned.

"Are you guys done yet?"

"Not yet honey, you go to sleep, we'll have it done by the time you wake up."

"Don't forget you have the same shift as me Teef."

"Yeah, but I've had some sleep already, I'll get a bit more in a couple of hours."

Cloud didn't argue, swallowing the last of the sandwiches Vincent had made instead of breakfast, he made his way up to his room, tossing his coat on the clothes hamper as he went.

It didn't seem like he'd had more than a few hours sleep, but that wasn't uncommon for him as he got to the middle of the week, it was usually Monday he was very energetic, by Wednesday he started to slow down, and by Saturday, he was the stripping zombie, though people couldn't tell while he was on stage.

It wasn't surprising to see Chaos already getting the coffee together, the demon's coffee was thick as tar and twice as strong as Cloud's, but it was just what Cloud needed this morning.

Chaos was just happy that it was the middle of the week, during the last couple of days before Cloud's day off, the blonde had been known to snarl, and growl his way out of bed, everyone, even Chaos knew to leave a clear path between Cloud's room and the coffee machine.

The first, and only time the coffee machine had broken down, The blonde had left a path of destruction from the apartment all the way to the repair shop, the repairman had taken one look at the caffeine deprived teen and made it a rush job.

Quickly. Chaos handed the first coffee of the day over before getting his own.

Tifa wasn't long after Cloud, going to the kettle for her and Aerith's tea, before getting dinner ready, a simple lamb stew with spices and veges.

Once they'd all sat down for the meal, and Cloud finished his second cup of coffee, Aerith gave him the list.

Aerith because she was the only one who didn't raise Cloud's un-caffeinated ire.

"It would be ok if he only fulfilled a third of these."

Cloud stared at the list in his hands, it was three pages long, and written in small print, he took one look Aerith's timid face and sighed.

"Sure, lets see how it goes."

Cloud was pretty sure Zack would give up after he saw the first page.

Possibly even the first request.

1: Major advertising NOT allowed.

What Club owner wanted new acts if he couldn't promote them.

TBC

OK, so far we have in the sort of voting

we have

4 for the threeway

2 for Aerith/Tseng

2 for Aerith/Zack

1 for Aerith/Tseng with Cloud/Sephiroth/Zack

and 3 for Vincent Tseng

It'll be a couple more chapters before the pairings really start, so we'll see how these hold up.


	6. Chapter 6

Cloud sighed as he looked over the list again, Even though Vincent, Tifa and Aerith had said one third, he knew they'd be happy with half that.

The likely hood of Zack Fair agreeing to even that much was still a huge stretch.

Sighing again, he got on Fenrir, beeping the horn once when he noticed Tifa wasn't out the door yet, she had been putting her helmet on inside the house, no doubt to stall the conversation until later on, when he was more awake.

Really, he wasn't that bad, was he?

Tonight was one of the few times he and Tifa had the same shift, and while the ride in was short, he did enjoy the time spent with his oldest friend.

It often amazed Cloud the number of times people thought he and Teef were lovers, their close relationship, with casual touches, sudden hugs and kisses, it may have seemed like it, but in truth they where more brother and sister than anything else, same with Aerith.

Vincent seemed to fit both the protective older brother and the parental figure mode, while Chaos was more the cranky uncle, which suited him just fine.

As they stopped in front of Seventh Heaven, Tifa jumped of the bike and hurried into the girls change room, while Cloud ended up de-tangling his hair from his helmet, this was the one problem with riding a motorbike, with Clouds spiky do, he got tangled at least once a week.

Finally free, he headed into his own change room, where Yuffie was holding up an opulent, Gold Saucer/Costa Del Sol inspired outfit, it was the type of outfit they usually only used for Friday or Saturday nights.

Cloud blinked as the bouncing designer explained that he was doing one of his speciality acts.

The reason it was mainly used on those nights was because it doubled as self-defence due to the increased number of drunks.

The First Tsuragi Dance was one that Cloud had started out to get himself used to the sword Vincent had "Liberated" from a small time drug lord's house, it both celebrated his new defensive capabilities, and trained his muscles so he could hold it in any position normal or unusual, without dropping it.

Barrett had seen it on one of his few visits, usually to drop of Marlene for Aerith or Tifa to babysit.

While the Larger man scared Aerith at first, it was to a lesser extent now, her and Marlene got on very well.

The minute Cloud was finished, Barret told him to use that dance in the club.

When Cloud asked why, Barret's Answer was simple but very effective.

"Cloud, that gave ME an erection, imagine what it would do to people who actually pay to watch you dance."

Cloud had no argument for that, so the next week it was added to the set.

Eyeing the outfit, Yuffie was now holding out for him to take, he opened his mouth to ask why.

But Yuffie beat him to it.

"Vincent called while you where asleep, he told Barrett about the list so Barrett decided to put your best set up instead of the normal one."

Cloud sighed, it sounded like some of Vincent's Turk side was coming through, their motto seemed to be.

"Make an impossible to fulfill offer, then do everything to make it impossible to refuse."

He wanted Cloud safe, he wanted their odd little family together, but he wanted Cloud to get the job as well.

Cloud sighed again, it was no use arguing, and from the looks of it, Yuffie had designed this outfit just last night, so it would hurt her feelings if he didn't wear it to it's full potential.

A quick peek out the door showed that the spiky haired recruiter, Zack, Barrett had told him, had indeed come again, so After reassuring Yuffie he'd put the outfit on, he walked over and gave the man the list along with the reassurance that he didn't have to fulfill the whole thing, before going back to get into his costume.

Cloud had doubted the man would stay after seeing the full list, so he was surprised to see him still there for the act.

Never one to let surprise stop him, Cloud put his absolute best into First Tsuragi, even if he didn't get hired, it wouldn't do to disappoint the other customers.

Zack was dumbstruck as the blonde dancer completed his routine, it was one of the most sensual, erotic dances he'd ever seen, he decided then and there that he'd hire the younger man, even if he had to complete the entire list.

He was still unwilling to show his full hand yet though.

Catching up with the dancer after his set, he told him he'd decide in a few days.

TBC

AN: My computer is getting old and slowly heading to the "Great Electrician in the Sky" so on the off chance that it doesn't last out until I get a new one, there may be long delays in posts because I have no way to save any new chapters to be moved to the new system.


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